(Gregg Easterbrook will contribute his column to NFL.com readers each week during the NFL season and also appear on NFL Network, providing commentary Tuesday nights on NFL Total Access. He is a senior editor of The New Republic, a contributing editor of The Atlantic Monthly and a visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution. His latest book, The Progress Paradox, released by Random House, is out at bookstores now.)

(April 20, 2004) -- This time of year everybody's got mock drafts. The CIA, the Vatican and the Department of State are all working on mock drafts. Bill Gates is pouring over stat sheets to figure out whether the Chargers should take Eli Manning or trade out of the first pick. Kim Jong Il has temporarily suspended threats against South Korea while he calls around to scouts to try to predict whether Will Smith or Kenechi Udeze will be the first defensive end chosen. Every sports web site, sports magazine and sports talk show is sagging under the weight of mock drafts -- none of which will turn out to be right.

1. San Diego Chargers: Diana Taurasi, guard, University of Connecticut. She has heart, determination and intensity, three qualities currently absent from the Bolts. Also, she's significantly better-conditioned than any guards on the San Diego roster.